two sheets

We had decided unanimously that the family needed to take a family vacation

and go meet my new baby nephew…..

celebrate Mason’s birthday…..

and celebrate my moms one year follow up following her double mastectomy.

Now that i have a job where i work 2 days a week….and Bryan has a hard time getting time away during

any busy season…..we felt like the weekend over Presidents weekend would work out best.

We booked a red eye out on the 14th and a return on the 19th…..which means the kids would only miss

2 days of school…..and Bryan would only miss 3 days of work.

Apparently my job really doesn’t count…so missing two days didn’t factor into the equation.

hmmmph

whatevs.

On Thursday night…..right around the time we were about to hop in the car and head to the airport….

we got a call telling us our flight had been cancelled.

Right away Bryan got on the phone and tried to figure out our best case scenario because let me tell you…..

we don’t live where you can pick and choose how to best get out of here.

{think island …..and middle of the night….}

We found out there was only one flight left that night and it had a connection through LAX and it was

on a completely different airline. The airline we had booked with got us on that flight…which meant we had

to scramble to the airport and try and make it.

Oh….we got there in time……but there was no plane there.

It had been delayed leaving the mainland and now the estimated time for departure was going to be at 2:30 in

the morning.

My kids were thrilled………

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We finally made it on board…..and the kids slept the entire 5 hour flight to LA.

{we fly so much that i have it down to a science …..}

We arrived in LA….but missed our connecting flight due to being delayed out of Kauai…..

so we had about 6 hours to kill at LAX……

so we jumped on the Parking Spot shuttle that happens to be right next to an In & Out…..so we could

get our burger fix.

{gotta love the free parking lot shuttle……just make sure to tip the shuttle driver well}

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While we were there……Bryan ran into an old friend from  his college days….who was visiting with his daughter 

touring colleges for the weekend.

{i’m still trying to get over the fact that some of your friends have college age kids….}

Apparently…..the In & Out on Sepulveda is the place to run into old friends.
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We finally made it to Albuquerque at a little past 7 pm ……but my parents actually live up in Angel fire……

which is a 3 hour drive from the airport.

Which means…..we wasted a whole day because of the flights…..and really only have three whole days

in front of us to spend because it’s really an entire travel day to get back to Kauai.

Oh well…..sheet happens.

Two sheets if you must know the truth.

sheet sheet sheet

……….

The kids woke up at the butt sheet crack of dawn the next morning and before you could say

two sheet

Lola and Fin had their snow clothes on and were ready to go outside and play in the snow.

Thank goodness for kids that have not seen snow for 1.5 years…because it’s like magic i tell you….

just like magic mike for us girls….

snow is like magic mike for kids.

good clean fun

but with gloves and thick pants on.

{thank goodness}

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Bryan and Mason went skiing together that first morning….all day.

They had so much fun together and it was also Mason’s birthday that day…..

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but i just wanted to hang out with the family that first day…..

and get my baby fix.

I introduce you to baby Carter…..

{even though i really think he should have been named Bueller…}

I think he looks like he could easily be one of my kids….and in fact……

since i want another baby…..

{but not going to have one thanks to someone having a vasectomy  minutes after Fin was born….

and of course being the sleep deprived mother to to three kids….i must have somehow signed that

permission slip}

i thought my best allotment of time would be to spend it with the baby and the rest of the family.

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Lola even thinks we should keep baby Bueller Carter…..
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but she decided that she enjoyed playing with cousin Preston even more.

{i think its because he listens to her….}

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Anyhoo anyway……

i thought i would touch on the subject of two sheet since it’s in the blog title and all.

Ever since i was a little kid my parents have had an unhealthy relationship with using toooooo

many squares of toilet paper when you go to wipe and flush.

weird ……for sure

awkward…..yes.

The minute my dad picks us up at the airport…..he has a chat with the kids about how you can only

use two sheets of toilet paper because the house is on a septic tank so anymore then 2 sheet

might not only be disastrous……but downright ugly.

Point noted.

{i’m not stating that this photo of baby Mason had anything to do with this conversation…..}

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{did i mention he is 12 now?! gah!}

We review this over and over with the kids because there is nothing worse then having Grandpa

in a bad mood and having to go out to the septic tank in the middle of winter because someone

{no one came clean…….no pun intended either }

had used maybe three sheets and not two sheets when they wiped their sheet or maybe

some little 7 year old boy sharted and was so scared to use more then two sheets that he hid his 

soiled pants in his suitcase.

true story

Well….someone did use one too many sheets and in the middle of winter on a cold morning….

Grandpa had to go out and work on the clogged septic tank.

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I won’t lie when i tell you we all hid in different rooms because we were all afraid of the consequences .

……

Back track 6 years…….

My brother and his wife were married in this backyard ………

so think of the movie “meet the parents” with Ben Stiller……

that was our family that day with the septic tank because some guest used more than 2 sheets.

Anyhoo……

back to the rest of our weekend.

Have i ever mentioned that my mom owns the toy shop in Angel Fire?

It makes for some happy kids when Grandma takes them to the shop and lets them pick something out…..

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beautiful abandoned place on the side of the road…..
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Bryan and mason skied for all three days……

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My brother Spencer has a few snow mobiles so he took bryan and the kids out on an adventure…..

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more skiing…..

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i did not ski.

i do

{honest….i do}

but this trip i did not……

i did wait for them at the base of the mountain in the warm bar though….

that counts.

{i did check the best wife in the universe book and it states it right there in chapter 6}

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on our last day…..

which was day three 

{hard to think we were really only there for three whole days….}

my dad wanted to get us all together for a family photo….

so i give to you ……

The Hill Family photo:

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the little kid on the right ……we think he saw a mountain lion.

{unconfirmed at this point…}

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every night we sat around after dinner and played games……

i would have won the card game….

if Bryan didn’t shuffle the cards mid game…..

which is sooo against any card rules ever in the history of the world……

but he did….

and so therefore i lost.

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and then this little guy…..

beautiful……adorable…..and i really did almost eat him he was so delicious…..

but instead tried to find a way to sneak him home.

We had such a wonderful long weekend away…..

and it was so good to be around my family for 3 whole days. We love them.

weekly dose

Last week i joined AA.

It’s short for Anyhoo Alright.

I went four days without grapefruit juice and vodka and to tell you the truth my blood pressure

shot out the roof and my grey roots popped out faster then you can say Shart.

Which means i’m back on the sippy cup.

I could go on and on about how beneficial grapefruit juice is for you and the medicinal qualities…

but my therapist 

aka: bryan

thinks i write way to much about vodka so i thought i would just quit therapy all together

and so far its going great on my own.

Alrighty……..Anyhoo…….

{see……there it is….good ole AA}

Some photos and a re-cap from the last few weeks……and i’m going to try and be better about giving a

good ole Kauai Daily Dose to you.

1. The girls heading out surfing a few weekends ago… 

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2. my little red table is holding up well …..and Friday evenings are pretty holy around here.

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3. Lola loves animals…..so we have to stop at the horse pasture every once in a while to

take it all in.
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4. drinks with a friend after work one night a few weeks ago…

{i swear that gecko on the wall sharted on her dessert…..but i’m not saying one word…not one word}

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5. Hanalei Don working the register at work….

unfortunately…..it was a slow night so he thought it would be funny to surprise me with my fav cocktail.

{if i get fired after this post……i’m still holding Hanalei Don responsible….}

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6. I had to buy Lola  a new mouse cage because part of the downfalls of living near the ocean

is that anything with metal rusts pretty easily.

And it was starting to stink.

stink bad.

I had Lola run the old cage out to the condo complex garbage and throw it away……

and the next morning we found it at the neighbors yard sale.

They were selling it for $2

I don’t know what was more funny…..the fact that they dumpster dived for the foul smelling mice

cage and tried to sell it at their yard sale or the fact that another neighbor actually bought it and i see

it sitting on their front porch like it’s a fine piece of art or something.

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7. Birthday parties around here are normally at the beach.

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8. Fin and some of his friends keeping themselves busy while i was photographing a family….
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9. Pretty finds along the beach……
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10. Mason turned 12 over the weekend.

This is the cruiser i think he needs……

except since he won’t be driving for 4 more years….

i think i should be the sole driver till he can take it over.

Bryan is still not returning my daily texts about this proposal.
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11. This is what 12 looks like.

{we just got home from a long weekend in New Mexico…..so i’ll be posting about that later this week}

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12. Hanalei Don called shot gun and rode to school with us.

{i still don’t understand how this happened…..}
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13. Dinner with friends for valentines on our back lanai…..
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14. it’s even better when you can serve fine boxed wine.

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p.s. the word Shart is what happens when you mix the two words together:  Sheet and Fart.

Boys…..namely 7 year old boys….

think it’s funny to leave a shart in their pants especially since said child does not wear underpants.

It’s not funny.

So…in response to sharts left in pants…..i will leave plastic roaches on said child’s bed now.

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little young love

This was a post from 3 years ago.

Because it’s valentines day and a day to love on the ones we love most….i thought i would re-share this

photo shoot of Fin and one of his first little girlfriends.

……………………………..

It’s okay to have a first love….and it’s okay to cry when you lose it.

I wanted to capture a story for these two…….because you see….this is one of Fin’s best friends…

and she will be moving away shortly. I wanted to be able to put something together..

so that when these two are older…that they have something to look back on…and remember when.

I wasn’t planning on showing these yet…but the more i look at the photos …the more i know how

much she’s going to be missed. Her momma is a dear friend and reads my blog……

so i know she will be surprised when she sees these photos and hopefully knows….how very much we love them.

I hope these images captured the sweetness that only a pair of five year olds could have.








See that book on top of the pile in the wagon…..it is one of our all time favorite books EVER…

it’s called ‘The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane’…..by Kate DiCamillo.

It’s the story about a rabbit…who is loved…then lost…and…well…i guess you just

need to read it now to find out what happens in the end.

The small grey felt hearts are from Ikea…as is the heart bucket. I found the branch in my yard..

and now it resides in my home. The child silhouette banner and hand held hearts were made

by my friend Vana at Le Papier.

p.s. No children were hurt or mistreated at any time during the making of this love story.

p.p.s. Children might have been given candy for their cooperation.